What’s the deal with ‘Five-0’ star Alex O’Loughlin’s tattoos?

Q: Does Alex O’Loughlin from “Hawaii Five-0” really have those tattoos on his arms? I saw him in “The Back-Up Plan” and he did not have them. Are they only for his TV character?

A: O’Loughlin, who plays Steve McGarrett on the CBS show, is significantly inked even when not playing the crimefighter.

Fans have been talking about his tattoos going back at least to his breakthrough role on the vampire drama “Moonlight” in 2007-08.

A report on Buddytv.com at that time said he was “inked on each forearm, on each shoulder, over his right nipple and one on his lower back.”

He has added additional temporary tattoos for some roles, and covered them up for others.

Q: There was a show on Fox in 2010 called “The Good Guys” with Bradley Whitford and Colin Hanks that was canceled after the first season. Are there plans to release this series on DVD or Blu-ray?

It’s available on Amazon.com and iTunes for download, but I would like to have it on disc if possible. I can’t understand why some shows that don’t even play out 10 episodes come out on disc right away while others like “The Good Guys” who had 20 episodes still are not released.

A: TV shows – and movies, for that matter – do not get to DVD or Blu-ray for a variety of reasons. Science-fiction and fantasy shows tend to end up on video, no matter how few episodes were made, because the audience for that genre will buy almost anything that becomes available; other shows, where the demand is not so certain or proves limited, do not do as well, and even some long-running series stopped coming out on DVD after their first sets were poor sellers.

At the same time, even some beloved shows don’t make the move because of some kind of rights issue, such as getting permission to use certain music, or the cost of obtaining those rights.

Finally, the way of the future appears to be not disc but through online providers and downloads. “The Good Guys” has gone into a lot of online venues. Besides the two you mentioned, it is also on Netflix.